Confidence is really the key?

by semprenaroda on Mar 27, 2009 9:57 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

I just saw the last news edition in CN. And reading the “Haussler, the confidence” report, i highlight this sentence from the so far, revelation of the season:

"The main thing is the confidence”

Thinking about this guy, he did somethings interesting last years, and already attracted our attention. In sprints he usually finished in top 5 at least, or even in podium, but winning?!! My ideia of him in cobbles is that he had some interesting results in previous years, but nothing like that we are seeing.

Every athletes have two sides: physical and mental. HH improve in both, especially in menthal. So what is main factor to raise confidence, start winning, a new team?

About sprinting in his case (who already proved his ability) i think confidence is the key like he said, but coobles isn't enough!! I suspect that he did very hard work in winter (different from previous years) and learn very much in this team, especially with some experienced like Hunt and Hammond, Klier. And about his new DD? He or they have credits in training guys for cobbles?

His move for Cervelo was the right choose, he finally did the jump that we are expected, now let see if he can keep it there.

Thinking in guys that can't win, first thought goes for: Juan Antonio Flecha!! He has everything to win stages, classics, but he can’t, why? I think his time for he move to another team... quickly.

About Ciolek, i think his time in Team Columbia was not good for him. In Telekom he won the confidence to take stages, now he lack in that. Let see what he can do this year, i think he only need to start winning to have a wonderful season.

What is your thoughts about who have high or low confidence right now? We will see Haussler keeping this form in next weeks or is too much for him?

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Excellent post

We’ve definitely seen this a lot over the years, namely talented riders underperforming for a while, making a change to a better environment, and seeing their career turn around. A few examples: Levi Leipheimer, Bobby Julich, all the Riis projects, about a dozen guys who fled T-Mob, etc. It doesn’t make intuitive sense that endurance sports can come down to confidence; it’s easy to think all that matters is watts/kg, but obviously it doesn’t work out that way. I think this is especially true in the classics, where split second decisions matter, and confidence helps you be aggressive in those moments.

CQRanking.com, you complete me.

by Chris... on Mar 28, 2009 1:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah

in some teams, seems that wins pushing more wins. We see a rider getting wins and after, their teammates too.

In classics is important like you say, but in sprint i think is much more. Remember how Cav pass Haussler in MSR, is from a great rider but mainly from a guy who knows that he is the best right now.

by semprenaroda on Mar 28, 2009 6:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the big thing with confidence is that you can start claiming leadership of your team and full support from your team mates. Cavendish wins lots because his team trust him to win if they can put him in the right position and thus give him loads of support.

It also plays into the tactics you use. You need to believe that you can go with the big guys when they attack. Also, if you believe you can win in the sprint, then you don’t waste energy trying long shot attacks. On the other hand, if you believe you’ve got the strength to attack successfully, then you can commit fully to doing that, and act with boldness.

by William H on Mar 28, 2009 8:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agreed

you see time and time again how riders (and other athletes) with tons of skill seem to bog down and not meet their potential. a big part part of confidence is knowing your own strengths and consistently playing to them – if you’re in a team environment that allows you to do this and actively supports it, all the better. the flipside is cracking under the spotlight because in the glare you start to lose sight of what you know best, like what happened to Cadel last year (in my view). i appreciate when he wins because i don’t see him as a “natural” winner – it seems like he has to fight through his own demons to get there.

in my own experience as a competitive athlete, i did not live up to my potential or what others expected i could do because i could not get it in my head that i was truly capable of winning at that level or meant to win. and the best people i coached were those who had a steady, unshakeable faith that they were meant to win, either from hard work, experience, good parenting, or a combination of all three. and among the very best, it was often a quiet, understated confidence.

You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

by nicknorco on Mar 28, 2009 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At some point recently, Haussler saw himself on the replay, and became aware that he has a nice part in bicycling history – the guy nobody could handle at MSR 2009 with 350m to go, the only other guy in the Cav MSR final story besides Hincapie and Thor. He is young too, and coming into his top years – just being able to watch that replay of MSR is a stronger foundation for confidence than most pros ever can hope for.
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Haussler has not proven he can ride like Flecha, but it will be great if he does even okay in the big races. If he gets to the velodrome, does he take Tom?
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I feel the periodization/form arguments presented by Chrisdot about Haussler may not prove out, I do support the ‘matches’ theory, but only for the longer races, and really all the riders are trying to be their strongest for the same big races, Australian season or no. It did not kill Haussler to go like crazy in the Dwars, but more of a good and necessary learning experience if indeed he is more of a rider than just a guy ‘on the form of everyone’s life.’ Now his teammate Thor is re-asserting himself, and they can both just ride for it, and maybe there will be more big surprises.
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Haussler hit the brakes to not cross the line with Tom at Dwars.
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The drugs question makes speculation new territory – it’s good that we can hope Haussler is clean, but because of doping, we are lacking good recent historical comparative data to project where his 2009 might be going.
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And what if Cav starts burning even more matches this spring?

by thisisntthezodiac on Mar 29, 2009 1:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs